Demolition has officially commenced on East London housing development Robin Hood Gardens, bringing to an end any chance of a last-minute preservation effort for the Brutalist icon. Designed by British architects Alison and Peter Smithson and completed in 1972, plans for the site?s clearing and redevelopment have been in the works for more than five years, before government indecision and a spirited protest campaign led by architects including Richard Rogers, Zaha Hadid, Robert Venturi, and Toyo Ito put those plans in doubt.

via <a href='http://https://twitter.com/saverobinhood/status/900359306658369536'>Twitter user @saverobinhood</a>

Demolition has officially commenced on East London housing development Robin Hood Gardens, bringing to an end any chance of a last-minute preservation effort for the Brutalist icon. Designed by British architects Alison and Peter Smithson and completed in 1972, plans for the site?s clearing and redevelopment have been in the works for more than five years, before government indecision and a spirited protest campaign led by architects including Richard Rogers, Zaha Hadid, Robert Venturi, and Toyo Ito put those plans in doubt.Sad Day, just noticed they've started demolishing parts of Robin Hood Gardens pic.twitter.com/N3S5xJrJz4— Robin Hood (@saverobinhood) August 23, 2017 An example of the duo?s ?Streets in the Sky? concept, the Robin Hood Gardens featured wide concrete balconies on every third level...